Kirsan Ilyumzhinov retained the post of FIDE President two years ago

Today marks exactly two years to the day that Kirsan Ilyumzhinov triumphed (110 votes for him vs 61 for Kasparov) and retained the post of the President of the International Chess Federation, which he holds from 1995.

The voting, as experts noted, has caused an extraordinary excitement around the world. It is said that people made bets on the winner. The elections were heavily politicized from the very beginning, because Ilyumzhinov’s opponent, Kasparov representing Latvia, made it clear that he was fully using the financial support of the United States in his campaign. Nevertheless, the election in the Norwegian Tromsø showed that Russia still enjoys high prestige all over the world.

Before election, many analysts sadly stated that, due to the current political situation, nothing portended the success of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Back in October 2013, a protégé of the US State Department Kasparov was absolutely confident of victory. That confidence was primarily based on the aggravation of relations between Russia and the West. Therefore, the subject of most harsh criticism of Kasparov were the international peacekeeping activities of Ilyumzhinov. Moreover, the closer the voting day loomed, the more aggressive the sanctions of "international community" against Russia became. On Election Day, August 11, 2014, Norway - the host country of the 2014World Chess Olympiad-joined the sanctions. Many of those who supported Ilyumzhinov found themselves on the verge of a heart attack – who would vote for a representative of Russia in such circumstances? On the other hand, they would most likely vote for the "irreconcilable fighter against Putin's regime". Meanwhile, around the middle of the campaign, Kasparov’s team started to sense the coming loss and, trying to seize the ghost victory, went to all lengths. Unfortunately, chess players and fans of the ancient game would remembered those elections by a series of corruption scandals in which Kasparov supporters were caught red-handed trying to bribe chess officials and national federations. The contender for the highest office in FIDE himself, sensing an imminent defeat, raged at the slightest hint of a possible victory of Ilyumzhinov. Today, the supporters of ex-champion and their associates in protest movement in Russia sing in unison the song about "hand of Moscow" and Putin that ensured the victory of Ilyumzhinov. Everyone was bought, and the rest were intimidated... It is pointless to argue that nonsense, but going back to the events of two years ago, one should remember a number of indisputable facts. The main one is that Ilyumzhinov’s opponents had miscalculated: the World Chess Federation, due to the firm position of its leader, stands outside politics. As Kirsan Ilyumzhinov repeatedly stressed, its purpose was to teach people to think. Let us recall that the main idea of ​​Ilyumzhinov and the official slogan of FIDE is "One billion playing chess - one billion smart people." Compare the promise to increase the popularity of chess; the number of people playing chess to a billion and declaring the ancient game to be out of politics, which is the summary of Ilyumzhinov's election programme, to Kasparov’s manic promises to "continue the fight against Putin's regime." The second mistake of ex-champion was his groundless faith in international isolation of Russia. As a result, the opponents of Ilyumzhinov that decided to secure a grip on the biggest sports federation, apparently, had not considered with whom they are dealing. The vast majority of chess federations did not appreciate their effort and voted for Ilyumzhinov against politicking and corruption scandals of Kasparov’s team. It is clear that the pain of failure, even two years old, has been throbbing in the heart of the former champion until now. Sometimes it may seem that Kasparov nearly went out of his mind cherishing the dream of rematch. Let us recall that the US Treasury announced the inclusion of Ilyumzhinov in the Syria sanctions list on November 25, 2015. The way Ilyumzhinov was picked clearly shows the influence of ex-candidate for FIDE leadership, ex-champion Garry Kasparov. Having cadged the opportunity to make unsubstantiated accusations from his American owners, ex-champion stealthily revenged his fortunate rival. Perhaps Kasparov has other reasons. However, due to mere luck and with the help of benefactors from the closed and having a bad reputation Bilderberg Club, he was appointed as a public consultant to the US President's Council on sanctions. Nevertheless, Ilyumzhinov actively fights against that decision; he is the only Russian included in the sanctions list, who intend to seek an exclusion from it and compensation for moral damages. It was for a reason that two years ago, on August 11, 2014, in a tense and at times dramatic struggle intelligence defeated rampant propaganda and decency together with common sense – underhand intrigues and shameless lies. That is a good reason to congratulate Kirsan Nikolayevich!